The present invention relates to a method and kit for piercing ear lobes, and in particular, to piercing ear lobes with a protective, piercing stud, shot into the lobe by a conventional ear piercing gun.
The primary disadvantage with the current devices used for ear lobe piercing is that conventional ear piercing devices insert a standard piercing stud into the ear lobe. The conventional piercing stud is worn for four to six weeks until the hole created in the ear lobe heals and there is no longer the risk of infection. The standard piercing stud includes a plain and ordinary head which is considered unattractive by most women and men getting their ears pierced.
Two U.S. Pat Nos. 5,007,918 and 5,004,471 to Mann, attempt to address this problem by including piercing studs with an ornamental head or by having interchangeable ornamental heads. However, although U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,471 to Mann is an ornamental head, it allows wearers only one choice for the six-week period. And with U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,918 to Mann it can be difficult to interchange the heads and it is expensive, since the interchangeable ornamental heads are temporary and will not be used after the six-week healing period.
Other prior art regarding ear piercing devices does not address this problem and, in addition, presents other disadvantages.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,020,848 to DiCicco is indicative of the conventional ear piercing apparatus. Although it is used in conjunction with the standard ear lobe piercing gun, the DiCicco device inserts a conventional, nondecorative stud into the ear lobe, which must remain in the ear for four to six weeks.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,831,597 to Shiller is indicative of the ear piercing devices that are not used in conjunction with the conventional ear piercing guns. Shiller, instead, requires manual insertion of the pointed end of a piercing post into the ear lobe. While the piercing post is hollow, allowing for the immediate insertion of a decorative earring, the hollow post does not stay in the ear, but is removed, which causes further irritation of the hole in the ear lobe. Because Shiller requires manual insertion of the pointed piercing post through the ear instead of the conventional gun, it is not likely to be used to pierce ears by physicians in their offices or by non-medical technicians in jewelry stores.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,527,223 to Shein is not designed to use a conventional piercing gun, but requires that the piercing post be pushed through the ear manually. Although the piercing post is hollow, allowing an earring to be inserted through the hollow hole, the piercing post is removed after the earring is inserted. This second step required by Shein creates unnecessary irritation of the sensitive tissue around the new opening in the ear lobe. Secondly, Shein's piercing post is hollow all the way to the tip, so it does not give a solid piercing tip to facilitate efficient and sanitary piercing of the earlobe.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,416 to Sorensen does not deal with piercing the earlobe, but with guiding ear rings into the hole in the earlobe after the hole has healed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,341 to Ivey does not deal with piercing the earlobe, but with protecting the earlobe hole after it has healed.